Bruce Dern

An intense character actor who was frequently typecast as a psycho or villain, Bruce Dern started on television with credits on multiple Westerns. He scored film success with roles in Hitchcock's "Mar...
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Hollywood offspring Laura Dern and Dakota Johnson brought their famous parents as their dates to the Academy Awards on Sunday (22Feb15). Presenter Johnson turned up with her actress mum Melanie Griffith and nominee Dern arrived on the red carpet with her dad Bruce.

Geena Davis has launched a new film festival aimed at women and diversity in film, and she has helped recruit Julianne Moore, Samuel L. Jackson and Natalie Portman, among other top names, as advisors. The inaugural Bentonville Film Festival will take place from 5-9 May (14) in Bentonville, Arkansas, and will be the first and only film competition in the world to "offer guaranteed theatrical, television, digital and retail home entertainment distribution" for its winners.
A League of Their Own star Davis will serve as chairwoman of the festival, which will screen approximately 75 films in competition. These will range from "studio premieres to independent features and documentaries".
Davis says, "I have been an advocate for women for most of my adult life... and the Bentonville Film Festival is a critical component of how we can directly impact the quantity and quality of females and minorities on screen and behind-the scenes."
Joining Moore, Portman and Jackson on the advisory board will be Angela Bassett, Bruce Dern, Eva Longoria, Paula Patton and Shailene Woodley.
Films that receive the Audience, Jury Selection and Best Family Film awards at the festival will receive a distribution agreement with a guaranteed traditional theatrical release on a minimum of 25 screens from AMC Theatres.

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has rounded out the cast of his forthcoming western The Hateful Eight by adding Channing Tatum and Demian Bichir to the movie's line-up. The actors join Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Bruce Dern, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth and Jennifer Jason Leigh in the project, about a pair of bounty hunters tasked with transporting prisoners through post-Civil War Wyoming.
Further details about the roles given to Magic Mike star Tatum and Oscar nominee Bichir were unavailable as WENN went to press.
Production on The Hateful Eight is due to begin in Colorado in January (15).

Weinstein Company via Everett Collection
Quentin Tarantino has confirmed he will direct The Hateful Eight despite planning to scrap the project when an early draft of the screenplay was leaked.
The Pulp Fiction filmmaker filed a $1 million (£588,235) copyright infringement lawsuit against editors at Gawker.com, accusing them of facilitating the leak after publishing a report about the script drama, but he withdrew the legal papers in May (14).
With the court battle behind him, Tarantino used an appearance at San Diego's 2014 Comic-Con on Sunday (27Jul14) to tell fans the film is moving forward.
During a panel for the comic book Django Meets Zorro, a fan asked Tarantino if The Hateful Eight will be his next feature, and he replied, "Yeah - we're going to be doing The Hateful Eight."
Earlier this year (Apr14), Tarantino spearheaded a live reading of the script at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, featuring a cast of stars including Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern.

Weinstein Company via Everett Collection
Production on Quentin Tarantino's new western The Hateful Eight has been pushed back until early 2015.
The Pulp Fiction filmmaker had been scheduled to begin shooting the post-Civil War project in November (14), but actor Kurt Russell reveals the shoot has been delayed.
He tells MyFoxPhilly.com, "I've got a Tarantino project called The Hateful Eight that looks like it may go somewhere around the beginning of the year."
Tarantino initially scrapped plans to make The Hateful Eight after an early draft of the screenplay appeared online earlier this year (14). He filed a $1 million (£588,235) copyright infringement lawsuit against editors at Gawker.com, accusing them of facilitating the leak after publishing a report about the script drama, but he withdrew the legal papers in May (14).
Russell is reportedly set to join a cast which includes Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern, all of whom took part in a live reading of the script at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in April (14).

Lionsgate
It might not be as glamorous as Cannes or as cool as Sundance, but the Los Angeles Film Festival has just as much to offer as its larger counterparts. Between high-profile premieres of blockbuster films, international competition entries and some of the most exciting indies around all premiering at LAFF every year, there's plenty to pay attention to. But if you were unfortunate enough to let the this year's fest — which ran from June 11 to 19 — we've got you covered with a rundown of the most talked-about films to premiere at LAFF, and what the critics are saying about them. Now you can make all of your friends think you're cooler than you actually are.
They Came Together The Amy Poehler/Paul Rudd romantic comedy you’ve been waiting for is less about the relationship between the central couple, Joel (Rudd) and Molly (Poehler), and more about skewering every last trope of the genre. Written and directed by Wet Hot American Summer’s David Wain, the film lovingly parodies the traits, characters, conversations, and comically large apartments that appear in every rom com ever made, while allowing two funny, good looking people to fall in love in an entertaining way.
“The script’s on-the-nose descriptions of each character (as described by the characters themselves) actually works to frame them as self-aware people forced to play out roles we have seen before and allows the hilarious cast to play within those lines. Poehler and Rudd have a natural chemistry that makes them believable as the two leads in love, but their comedy also blends well making it clear they are having fun with each other and the characters they are playing.” – Allison Loring, Film School Rejects
"Wain leads his well-known cast through spoofs of such classics as When Harry Met Sally, Annie Hall, The Graduate and the sharp-elbowed comedies of Tracy and Hepburn. Each gag makes you wish you were watching the original, although a clench between Joel and his grandmother (Lynn Cohen) that almost leads to incestuous coupling deserves credit for sheer audacity. Most of the time, however, the actors on the screen seem to be having much more fun than the audience will." - David D'Arcy, Screen Daily
Cut Bank A small town crime drama set in Cut Bank, Montana that centers on a former high school football star (Liam Hemsworth) desperate to find a way out of his town. After he accidentally films the murder of the town mailman, he is offered a reward that would give him enough money to leave for good, but things aren't a simple as they seem, and he finds himself caught in a tangled web of deception and danger.
"...Shakman lets the scenes unfurl with a clunky pace and little verve, simply exaggerating the irony and naivety in the town as his main go-to points. It only makes sense that [John] Malkovich’s sheriff has never fired his gun and carries an aversion to violence; likewise with Palmer, who itches non-stop after a Miss Cut Bank pageant title even while she wants nothing more than to skip town. Thankfully humor seeps in through the edges of the film and its characters, sometimes on purpose and other times not." - Charlie Schmidlin, The Playlist
Lionsgate
Dear White People A satire of college movies that tackles race relations and privilege in society, Dear White People follows four students as an Ivy League university — golden boy Troy (Brandon P. Bell), activist radio host Samantha (Tessa Thompson), Colendra "Coco" Conners (Teyona Parris), who has dreams of being a reality TV star, and shy misfit Lionel Higgins (Tyler James Williams) — after a planned "African American"-themed party thrown by a group of white students starts a riot on campus.
"If it ultimately feels modestly edgy rather than shocking or dangerous, 'Dear White People' nonetheless provokes admiration for having bothered to ask some of the hard questions without pretending to know any of the answers. It also works as a fine showcase for its actors: Fleshing out characters that could have been little more than one-note mouthpieces, Williams, Thompson, Parris and Bell all make strong, distinctive impressions, with Thompson perhaps the standout as the film’s sharpest and most enigmatic figure." - Justin Chang, Variety
The Last Time You Had Fun With a cast full of comedians and sitcom alums, The Last Time You Had Fun puts a grown-up twist on the standard "wild night out" comedy. After Ida (Eliza Coupe) forces her sister Alison (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) to blow off some steam with her, they find themselves bickering and partying with Clark (Kyle Bornheimer) and the sweatpants-clad Will (Demetri Martin), as the four of them attempt to have the most fun that four older, dysfunctional adults could possibly have.
"Granted, the excesses of Bridesmaids or The Hangover are not essential to sparkling relationship comedy, but Fun lacks an edge, or even much of an attitude. Blandly risqué situations, featherweight banter and a hint of implied sexual impropriety have all the heft of an extended cable sitcom episode. Or maybe it’s the casting, which draws extensively on the TV comedy background of the four leads, who all acquit themselves adequately but can’t achieve sufficient character differentiation within the ensemble. Undistinguished locations, flat lighting and primarily static setups perpetuate the small-screen aesthetic, which at least bodes well for the film’s transition to home entertainment formats." - Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter
Echo Park The debut film from photographer Amanda Marsalis, Echo Park is a story about two people who come together "across cultural, economic and racial boundaries." Sophie (Mamie Gummer) is an unhappy housewife who moves from her Beverly Hills home to the up-and-coming neighborhood of Echo Park in order to shake up her predictable boring life, who finds herself drawn to Alex (Tony Okungbowa) after she buys his couch. But their burgeoning relationship might have to be put on hold, since he's about to leave for London...
"It’s Marsalis’ direction, and the fine performances from Gummer and Okungbowa that elevate the film above what it might have been, given the issues with the script and story that hover around the edges of cliché and stereotype (the worst offender: Sophie’s mother). While the dialogue, especially the scenes between Sophie and Alex, works well, the story beats are oddly laid out, rushing through some important character and relationship establishing moments, and dwelling too long in moments where the characters are making frustrating, selfish choices. Still, the end of the film avoids falling into the traditional romantic film trap, leading to a message that’s a bit more complicated and nuanced than expected." - Katie Walsh, IndieWire
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Beloved U.S. radio and TV personality Casey Kasem has died at the age of 82. The entertainer, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, passed away on Sunday morning (15Jun14).
Confirming the sad news on her Facebook.com page, the broadcaster's daughter Kerri writes, "Early this Father’s Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends. Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. The world will miss Casey Kasem, an incredible talent and humanitarian; we will miss our Dad."
Born Kemal Amin Kasem, the Detroit, Michigan native began his radio career in the mid-1950s, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to serve in the Korean War.
He ended up landing a job on the Armed Forces Radio Korea Network and decided to pursue a career in broadcasting after the war, heading to San Francisco, California, where he honed his skills as a DJ and became known for his rock 'n' roll trivia.
He went on to work at stations across the U.S., before launching his popular weekly chart show, the American Top 40, in 1970. He hosted the programme until 1988, and again from 1998 to 2004, and served as presenter on two spin-off series, the American Top 20 and the American Top 10.
On the radio countdown shows, he became famous for his signature send-off, "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."
He moved into voice acting in the 1960s, lending his vocals to Batman's sidekick Robin in the 1968 superhero cartoons, but Kasem was perhaps best known for providing the voice of Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo franchise, a job he retained from 1969 until 1995 and once again from 2002 to 2009.
His other TV credits included Battle of the Planets, Cliffjumper and the original Transformers cartoons, while he made acting cameos in the original Hawaii Five-O police drama, Saved by the Bell, Charlie's Angels, Columbo and the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and appeared in independent sci-fi/horror movie The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, alongside Bruce Dern. He also made a cameo in 1984's Ghostbusters.
Kasem was honoured for his lengthy career with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on his 49th birthday in April, 1981 and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1992.
His final years were blighted by ill health following his retirement in 2009, and he became the subject of a bitter family rivalry as his three eldest children, Julie, Mike and Kerri, from his first marriage to Linda Myers, battled with his second wife Jean, the mother of his youngest child Liberty, over his care.
In May (14), he was admitted to a Washington hospital, where he was treated for dementia, sepsis and and Parkinson's disease.
His daughter Kerri Kasem was appointed his conservator last month (May14), and last week (ends13Jun14) was granted permission to withhold medication, food and water from her ailing father. On Friday (13Jun14), his wife Jean filed legal papers opposing that decision, insisting her husband was not close to death.
Among the first people to pay tribute to Kasem, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk honoured the broadcaster's animal rights efforts, telling WENN, "PETA joins in mourning the passing of former American Top 40 host Casey Kasem. From always touting the importance of going vegetarian to flying to Las Vegas at his own expense to speak out against an entertainer who beat orangutans backstage every night before his act, Kasem was proud to use his distinctive voice to support many social causes, including animal protection."
And a statement from Ken Howard, the president of the Screen Actors Guild, which Kasem joined in 1966, reads, "For many, the multitalented Casey Kasem was the voice of popular music, and his long-running countdown programme brought exposure for many of his fellow union members. My deepest sympathy to his family and friends, and may we all remember him best by ‘reaching for the stars'."

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino will reportedly begin filming The Hateful Eight later this year (14), after announcing plans to scrap the project when an early draft of the screenplay was leaked to the media.
The Pulp Fiction director filed a copyright infringement lawsuit seeking $1 million (GBP625,000) in damages against editors at Gawker.com after the site published a report about how the script had been leaked. The suit was dismissed in April (14), but the 51 year old was allowed to amend it and refile, which he did earlier this month (14). He has since asked a judge to withdraw the action and now it appears he is planning to make the western after all.
Last month (Apr14), Tarantino gathered Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Amber Tamblyn, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern for a live reading of the leaked script at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Production on the film is scheduled to begin in November (14), according to Showbiz411.com.

Weinstein Company via Everett Collection
The Hateful Eight, Quentin Tarantino's violent and visceral post-Civil War western, was originally intended to be the director's follow up to 2011's Django Unchained, but the project was ostensibly nixed after someone in Tarantino's inner-circle of actors and producers leaked the script up and down the annals of Hollywood. The first draft of the script eventually ended up on Gawker for public consumption, which led to the filmmaker suing the outlet. Tarantino, just a few angry foot stomps away from having a genuine fit, declared that he would never produce a filmed version of the project and would perhaps instead release the script in the form of a book.
We thought this might be the end of The Hateful Eight saga, but in the ensuing months, it looks like cooler heads might have prevailed. On Saturday, Tarantino held a staged reading of the script, which he declared would be the only time this version of it would ever be performed. The reading included performances from some of Tarantino's most notable actors, including Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, Walton Goggins, James Parks, Michael Madsen, and James Remar. The story follows a group of bounty hunters and rogues that take shelter in a haberdashery during a blizzard. Tensions rise and blood predictably spills once characters start getting picked off one by one.
The live read provided a great glimpse into Tarantino's creative process, featuring the director lording over his actors and chiding them for taking even the smallest creative license with his script ("No co-writing"). Tarantino displayed a boundless and giddy enthusiasm for his latest work, enthusiasm that won't likely be contained by a single script reading in a sweltering LA theater. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tarantino stated during the performance, "I am working right now on a second draft. This is the first draft." This and several other statements made by the director over the course of the night are leading many to believe that he still has plans to eventually create a film based on some form of the The Hateful Eight script.
A number of journalists were in attendance for the reading, and the consensus is that while The Hateful Eight is a bit rough around the edges, it has the potential to be a great film. It's rough, edgy, sinful, and whip smart, just like Tarantino's finest. Here's what a few of them had to say:
"The Hateful Eight explores only two locations, denies a single protagonist in favor of eight unlikeable brutes, and winds a profane, bloody, and darkly humorous plot to an anticlimactic and upsetting finish." Charlie Schmidlin, The Playlist
"The Hateful Eight is raw, ragged, raucous, riveting." - Betsy Sharkey, The LA Times
"What we see tonight is more reminiscent of Reservoir Dogs than of Tarantino's more sprawling recent work: two locations, both claustrophobic and teeming with mutual suspicion and recrimination, with much occurring off-screen or in flashback." - John Patterson, The Guardian
"The script, with its slangy, smart-ass dialogue, surprising associations, extended digressions and tangy flavor, is recognizably Tarantino all the way." - Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
"...the total lack of air conditioning and the preposterously close rows combined to make the running time of over three-and-a-half hours almost impossible to bear. It is a testament, then, to the compelling nature of Tarantino's script and to the great cast he put together that no one seemed willing to leave before the end, no matter how hard it was to stay seated." - Drew McWeeny, Hitfix
"As you’d expect from Tarantino, the script is violent, bloody, laced with profanity and even vomit." - Janine Lew, Variety
"It’s Tarantino meets Agatha Christie. It played like a very good, but still a little rough, first draft. The introduction is incredibly tight and sound. The dialogue crackles, but while it’s a hardass hoot, the payoff is still missing." Brian Formo, Crave Online
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Director Quentin Tarantino rounded up some of his most famous collaborators including Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell to participate in a live reading of his leaked script The Hateful Eight on Saturday (19Apr14).
In January (14), the Pulp Fiction filmmaker scrapped plans to shoot the Western after an early draft of his screenplay made its way online without his permission. Despite the axe, Tarantino teamed up with organisers at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Film Independent programme to oversee a one-night live reading, starring Jackson, Russell, Amber Tamblyn, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern, who have all appeared in at least one of Tarantino's films.
At the the event at the Ace Hotel, Tarantino fit the bill by donning a black cowboy shirt and hat and told the crowd, "After the script was leaked I had no desire to make it... I'm working on a second draft and I will do a third draft, but we're reading from the first draft. The (script's) Chapter 5 here will not be the Chapter 5 later, so this will be the only time it is seen ever."
The saga, set in a snowy Wyoming a few years after the American Civil War, was performed across three hours, with Tarantino reading stage directions and even stopping actors to re-read lines or "stick to the page" if they started to stray from the script. Tickets to the event were sold for $150 to $200 (£89-£119), with all proceeds benefiting Film Independent.

Title

TV series debut as regular, played E J Stocker on ABC's Western "Stoney Burke"

Cast as Mr. Dudley in the thriller, "The Haunting"

Apeared in the comedy, "Down Periscope"

Starred in Alexander Payne's "Nebraska"

Appeared opposite Matt Dillon in "The Big Town"

Broadway debut in "The Shadow of a Gunman"; led to audition for Actors Studio after Elia Kazan saw production

First of several collaborations with Jack Nicholson, "The Trip" (written by Nicholson) and "St Valentine Day's Massacre"

Played John Gillon, a business man who owns most of a boxing town in "Diggstown"

Featured in the Comedy "The Burbs," as the paramilitaric neighbor

Cast as Virginia Madsen's father in "The Astronaut Farmer"

Cast opposite Charlize Theron in "Monster," about a Florida woman who killed seven men and was executed by lethal injection in 2002

Played Sheriff Ed Galt in the drama "Last Man Standing" with Bruce Willis

Co-starred in the CBS miniseries, "Space"

Appeared in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained"

Appeared with Leelee Sobieski and Diane Lane in "The Glass House"

Cast as Bill Paxton's father in the HBO series, "Big Love"

Voiced Link Static in the animated movie, "Small Soldiers"

Won Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a Vietnam veteran in "Coming Home"

Played Sinclair Lewis opposite Lois Nettleton in the Broadway production of "Strangers"

Won the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actor Award for his role in "Nebraska"

Co-starred with Peter Fonda and then wife Diane Ladd in "The Wild Angels"

Starred with former wife Diane Ladd in "Mrs. Munck"; Ladd also wrote and directed the film

Summary

An intense character actor who was frequently typecast as a psycho or villain, Bruce Dern started on television with credits on multiple Westerns. He scored film success with roles in Hitchcock's "Marnie" (1964), Bette Davis' "Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1964), and a string of projects with Roger Corman, including "The Wild Angels" (1966). A genre star, Dern was most recognizable for his committed turns in lower quality but vivid productions including the mad scientist film "The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant" (1971), the sci-fi proto-environmental picture "Silent Running" (1972), and the deranged mastermind behind a blimp bombing of the Super Bowl in "Black Sunday" (1977). Other notable film work included "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969), "Support Your Local Sheriff!" (1969), and his infamous turn as a cattle rustler who kills John Wayne in "The Cowboys" (1972). He garnered award recognition as the spoiled Tom Buchanan in "The Great Gatsby" (1974) and as a disillusioned Vietnam vet in "Coming Home" (1978). The ex-husband of fellow actor Diane Ladd and the father of actress Laura Dern, he continued to book roles into later age, including a chilling turn as the domineering father of polygamist Bill (Bill Paxton) on "Big Love" (HBO, 2006-2011). Although he never fully broke out of his typecasting as a genre heavy, Bruce Dern proved he possessed impressive enough acting chops to build a long-lasting career.